What are some good high schools for acting in Los Angeles?
Most LA area private schools have superior theatre programs, compared to even the public arts schools. For public school, you generally attend your neighborhood school, and many of them have very good theater programs. Check out your local high school website and you might be able to figure out about their arts program. In the Hollywood area, Hollywood and Fairfax High have good programs. LACHSA / Arts High is the best known public charter arts school in LA, it's on the Cal State LA campus. One must audition for admission. Academics take a back seat (the school itself makes that clear), and there is a lot of political stuff going on in some departments. (The reason that they have good standardized scores is that there is a certain population of students who are tutored so the can get into a good college. Some parents spend over $3000 a month on tutoring.) http://www.artshigh.org/ There is a new public arts high school in downtown LA, I think they've finally settled on the name of Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, but the kids call it VAPA or #9, from previous names. It's mostly a neighborhood school, they have stated that they don't want kids talented in the arts from outside the neighborhood, because many of the local students aren't really into the arts. The campus is rather architecturally amazing, they spent a lot of money building it 578 million $, most expensive in the nation. http://www.vapa9.org/ Renaissance Arts Academy is a small public charter school located in the Eagle Rock area of LA, 90041. It's a different type of high school, no dances, athletics, must wear certain clothes (for easy movement) to school, etc. Some kids love it, for others it isn't a good fit. It tends to have a rigorous curriculum for a public school and they emphasize college prep. Admission is by lottery. http://www.renarts.org/ Public Schools: http://www.greatschools.org/ http://www.schooldigger.com/ Private LA area schools: http://www.privateschoolreview.com/county_private_schools/stateid/CA/county/6037 Pasadena area private schools: http://pasadenaareaschools.org/ Good luck!
Good acting schools in Los Angeles? ?
I'm guessing you're a teen. If so, Young Actors Studio is a good option to check out. It's in North Hollywood, so it's not that far from Pasadena, most classes are on the weekends. It's more serious acting than a lot of teen programs around LA. Many of the kids are professionals, but beginners fit in fine too. Most kids seem to take 2 classes on either Saturday or Sunday, for a total of 4 hours. They are going to be putting on plays for the public soon. The price is in line with other programs. Young Actors Studio http://www.youngactorsstudio.com/ Other options for lessons, most in the Pasadena area: Sierra Madre Playhouse http://www.sierramadreplayhouse.org/Work... June Chandler http://www.junechandler.com/kids_and_tee... Theatre 360 http://www.theatre360.org/ Upstage http://upstageschools.com/ Alexia Robinson (Sherman Oaks) http://www.alexiarobinsonstudio.com/ There isn't really much in the way of community theatre for teens during the school year, because of the time limitations of teens. The exception is through the acting schools which often have performances with their students. The rehearsal times can be exhaustive. If you're in high school and serious about acting, start looking to see which colleges that are the right fit for you have good theater programs. Locally, there are many good options, like Cal State LA, USC, UCLA, Chapman/Dodge (in Orange), Pasadena City College, and Occidental. Good luck!
What kind of things do you actually learn in an acting school? Can acting be taught?
You are exposed to a wide sampling of very different acting styles/methods, and spend weeks immersed in a particular technique. Each is uniquely different, and each have their strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, a program should expose you to as many different systems of actor training. Then, it will be up to you to decide which system feels most comfortable, and offers you the most support and freedom to grow. The names of the dominant theories are Strasberg, The Method, Stanislavski, Meisner, Uta Hagen, Stella Adler, HB Studio, Michael Chekhov, and Kristin Linklater, to name a few. Secondly, acting classes are laboratories where students PLAY and take risks, experiment, improvise, use their imaginations, work collaboratively, perform solo in front of their peers, create shapes, try on animals, learn to use their voices safely and most effectively, learn stage combat, take classes in dialects and elocution, study stage makeup, learn to comport themselves appropriately for different time periods in history, and many more things. What's most important is that you are in a safe place with your peers, and have permission to take chances and learn to socialize and work well in groups. This peer review is an experience you'll never be able to fabricate or duplicate on your own and outside a classroom.Finally, upper level acting classes often center around scene work, where students will be paired together in 2-3 person scenes from classic and popular plays throughout history -- classical and contemporary. Again, this is another invaluable opportunity to learn how to work with and be a good partner. However, the most important experience you will get from performing scenes in front of your peers, is the feedback and constructive criticism you will receive from your teacher and peers. It may be hard to hear, but this generous and loving advice might be the last you get before it really gets ugly out in the real world. Soak it up. You'll miss acting school when it's over. Trust me. I have three university degrees in theatre, and never wanted to leave. Hope that answered your question!!
Do you need good grades to get into an acting college?
I was looking into an acting college such as UF (here's the link http://www.arts.ufl.edu/welcome/about.as… But i don't know if you need good grades in middle school or high school to get into an acting college? Do you? (As long as you aren't held back, of course) Please let me know. :) Ty!
When do child actors go to school?
Set education is often horrible. The social workers/set teachers are qualified, but the conditions are awful.School time is usually done during set and camera changes. Sometimes the kids get 15 minutes only at a time. It takes that long just to settle the kids and get them started on work. They are lucky to get 30 minutes at a stretch.They are often at different levels of schooling and the teacher is forced to divide their time between them.When they are not scheduled for work that day, they go to regular school or home school. The regular school teacher often resents the child actor that makes more money than they do. Kids are often just given busy work and not real schooling.Often the child actor is too tired from acting, still in acting mode and can't revert easily. Film actors have it easier than TV and Theatre actors do. They have time in between projects to get actual work done.And if you have a bad teacher, it gets worse. I had one teacher fired because she was too interested in getting acting jobs herself to watch over and protect my child. My daughter has suffered from heat exhaustion, hyperthermia, and pneumonia because of set conditions. I had to nix a scene myself because it was down right dangerous (bicycling down a cliff!).There is a reason so many child actors are functional illiterates. SAG has worked hard to correct this and protect child actors, but not enough in my opinion.Many people also think that the government and Unions protect children's working conditions and pay. They don't. There are no federal regulations governing child actors. It is left up to the states. Some states are protective, like California, others are not.Often, the decision of where to film is based on the states child actor regulations. They film where the regulations are the least onerous...Canada and North Carolina need a lot of work in this area. Protection of money is also not automatic. Again depends on the state of residence of the child. And if the project is non-union, all bets are off.My daughter finally quit acting to concentrate on school.